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Anales galdosianos [Publicaciones periódicas]. Año XII, 1977
indicate that man has an allegiance to heaven as well as to earth and that there is an infinite disparity
between the two... Nazarín shows us powerfully the serious danger there is to religion in forgetfulness
of human suffering and sorrow. Galdós nowhere shows us or tries to show us the equally serious
danger of forgetfulness of divine transcendence, whereby religion declines to mete humanism.
(p. 99)
The distance between these ideas and those of Orozco is revealed in a speech which Orozco makes
in a state between wakefulness and sleep, a state Galdós uses for exposing the true interior disposition
of the characters of this novel:
Aquí solo, dentro del círculo de mis pensamientos, apartado del mundo, ante el cual represento
el papel que me señalan, restablezco mi personalidad, me gozo en mí mismo, examino mis ideas y
me recreo en este sistema... lo llamaré religioso..., en este sistema que me he formado, sin auxilio de
nadie, sin abrir un libro, indagando en mi conciencia los fundamentos del bien y del mal... ¡Qué placer
descubrir la fuente eterna, aunque no podamos beber en ella sino algunas gotas que nos salpican a
la cara!
(p. 805)
Against the background of Parker's résumé, Orozco's speech sets up a series of oppositions between
his religious ideas and those of Galdós: selfcenteredness-othercenteredness; otherworldliness-
worldliness; asceticism-activism. This quotation can be juxtaposed to a statement that Orozco makes
to his wife when he awakes to illustrate how he mediates his consciousness when speaking to others:
Me conviene que continúe este lazo que al mundo nos une, y aparentar que, lejos de haber en mi
perfecciones, soy lo mismo que los demás... En el mundo, en plena sociedad activa, es donde se debe
luchar por el bien. Nada de ascetismo...
(p. 807)
This mediation of consciousness is at the root of what Arnold M. Penuel has called «the ambiguity of
Orozco's virtue» 79 . This ambiguity is resolved ex fructibus , i. e., by Orozco's deeds.
Even though Orozco performs many charitable acts, e. g., aiding a number of poor families, making
possible the construction of a correctional institution for juvenile delinquents and defraying the costs
almost singlehandedly, helping Viera's sister, Clotilde, her fiancé, and Viera himself, etc., of which
79 See «The Ambiguity of Orozco's Virtue in Galdós' La incógnita and Realidad », Hispania , 53
(1970), 411-418.
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